Senator Jim DeMint is planning to end the 111th Congress with a glorious show of all-points obstruction. Everything he hasn't personally agreed to, he'll hold. The idea is to just run out the clock so the Senate has to adjourn for the election. No wonder Senate Democrats are beginning to murmur again about filibuster reform -- though first they'll have to survive the election.

While the Senate can't act, the Fed simply hasn't decided whether to act. They're considering a program of open-ended bond purchases that would be less than the massive intervention they made during the crisis, but more than nothing And Obama is arguing for a longer school year. He's lucky kids don't vote.

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Jim DeMint is blocking almost all legislation until the election, reports Manu Raju: "Bret Bernhardt, DeMint's chief of staff, said in an e-mail to GOP aides that his boss would place a hold on all legislation that has not been cleared by both parties by the end of the day Tuesday... With the Senate slated to adjourn Thursday untiil after the elections, DeMint's stance could mean trouble for Democrats if the two parties don't quickly agree on a stopgap spending measure to keep the government operating past Sept. 30. And that could mean the demise of a slew of other stalled and largely non-controversial bills that both parties are looking to clear before Election Day."

The Fed is considering a program of open-ended bond purchases, reports Jon Hilsenrath: "Rather than announce massive bond purchases with a finite end, as they did in 2009 to shock the U.S. financial system back to life, Fed officials are weighing a more open-ended, smaller-scale program that they could adjust as the recovery unfolds. The Fed hasn't yet committed to stepping up its bond purchases, and members haven't settled on an approach. After its meeting last week, the Fed's policy committee said it was 'prepared' to take new steps if needed. A decision on whether to buy more bonds depends on incoming data about economic growth and inflation; if the economy picks up steam, officials might decide no action is needed."

A new study shows that Americans wildly underestimate how much income inequality we have -- and they think even that is too high: http://bit.ly/bqRrrN

Kathleen Sebelius goes to the WSJ editorial page to defend the health-care law -- and to hammer the WSj editorial page: "In the last two weeks, my department has been accused of 'thuggery' (this editorial page) and 'Soviet tyranny' (Newt Gingrich). What prompted these accusations? The fact that we told health-insurance companies that, as required by law, we will review large premium increases and identify those that are unreasonable. There's a long history of special interests using similar attacks to oppose change. In the mid-1960s, for example, some claimed Medicare would put our country on the path to socialism. But what is really objectionable about these comments is not who they're attacking, but what they're defending. "

Obama pressed for a longer school year yesterday, reports Erica Werner: "U.S. schools through high school offer an average of 180 instruction days per year, according to the Education Commission of the States, compared to an average of 197 days for lower grades and 196 days for upper grades in countries with the best student achievement levels, including Japan, South Korea, Germany and New Zealand. 'That month makes a difference,' the president said. 'It means that kids are losing a lot of what they learn during the school year during the summer. It's especially severe for poorer kids who may not see as many books in the house during the summers, aren't getting as many educational opportunities.'"

Democratic Senators are still thinking about reforming the filibuster, reports Taylor Rushing: "'It was already virtually certain that we would do something,' said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)...Last week, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said that filibuster reform has been boosted as a top prerogative of Democratic leaders after the failed vote on his defense measure...Senate Rules Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been laying the groundwork for changing the filibuster rules, which is strongly supported by most House Democrats. Schumer has held a series of hearings on filibuster reform and plans to hold his last filibuster-related hearing before the election this week."

Still to come: Treasury is figuring out how to get its money back from AIG; an end to the drilling moratorium could be announced this week; the IRS is giving up on paper tax forms; and Raytheon more or less builds Iron Man.

Treasury has a plan for recouping its investment in AIG, reports Brady Dennis: "The core piece of that strategy would be for Treasury to convert its $49 billion ownership stake in the company into common stock, then sell those shares to investors during the next few years, the sources said. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan is not final. The pricing of those shares in part would determine how much the U.S. government would recoup from its rescue of AIG."

The IRS will stop mailing income tax forms, reports Ed O'Keefe: "Taxpayers who want to file paper returns can still obtain the forms at IRS.gov, local IRS offices or at participating libraries and post offices. The annual savings will be in printing and postage costs, the IRS said. The agency uses the Government Printing Office to print the materials, which in turn hires private printers to do some of the work. The GPO would not comment on the decision...The Postal Service would not comment Monday on the potential financial impact of fewer IRS mailings."

David Brooks celebrates mid-century California's progressivism: "They built an outstanding school and university system. They started a series of gigantic public works projects that today are seen as engineering miracles. These included monumental water projects, harbors and ports, the sprawling highway system and even mental health facilities. They disdained partisanship. They continually reorganized government to make it more businesslike and cost effective. 'Thus,' the historian Kevin Starr has written, 'California progressivism contained within itself both liberal and conservative impulses, as judged by the standards of today.'"

We should get used to China and others manipulating currency, writes Anatole Kaletsky: "Market fundamentalists who feel that government interference with free markets is anathema should be reminded that, by today’s dogmatic standards, Ronald Reagan is one of the great manipulators of all time. He presided over two of the biggest currency interventions in history: the Plaza agreement, which devalued the dollar in 1985, and the Louvre accord of 1987, which brought this devaluation to an end. The fact is that the rules of global capitalism have changed irrevocably since Lehman Brothers collapsed two years ago -- and if the United States refuses to accept this, it will find its global leadership slipping away."

Michael Bromwich could announce the end of the administration's deepwater drilling moratorium as soon as Friday, reports Darren Samuelsohn: "Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said Monday he expects to issue interim rules and a key report later this week - a month early - as the Obama administration weighs its next move on offshore drilling...'Even when the moratorium is lifted, you're not going to see drilling come on the next day or the next week,' Bromwich told the administration’s Oil Spill Commission at a hearing Monday in Washington, D.C."

Environmentalists are considering backing a primary challenge to Obama, reports Darren Samuelsohn: "Glenn Hurowitz, former media director at Greenpeace, aired his complaints in an article on the Huffington Post with this headline: 'Environmentalists Need a New President.' 'It pains me to say it, but success will require a new president,' wrote Hurowitz, now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy...Officials at some of the top mainstream environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Environment America and Public Citizen, also blasted the idea of another Democrat challenging Obama at the ballot box. 'It’s a lunatic notion,' said an official from one of the nation’s largest groups."

The Fish and Wildlife Service is identifying animals in need of protection from climate change:http://bit.ly/cNxJyO

Obama's recovery panel wants BP to pay the cost of the Gulf recovery, reports John Broder: "In a report to be presented Tuesday in New Orleans, Ray Mabus, the Navy secretary and a former Mississippi governor, will urge Congress to create a Gulf Coast Recovery Fund to oversee the restoration efforts. The fund should be managed by a council including federal, state, local and tribal representatives, the report states. The goal is to create a steady stream of money and a consistent governmental focus on a restoration project that will last years. The Mabus report provides no estimate of the overall cost of the effort, but it is likely to run into the billions of dollars over the next several years."

Citizens United has cleared the way for "super-PACs", report Dan Eggen and T.W. Farnam: "FEC records show that super PACs have spent more than $8 million on television advertising and other expenditures, almost all of it within the past month. Groups favoring GOP candidates have outspent Democratic supporters by more than 3 to 1, mirroring an overall surge in spending by the Republican Party and its allies in recent weeks, records show. The super PACs have 'opened the door to the clearest, easiest way to spend unlimited funds on an election,' said Trevor Potter, a former FEC chairman who served as general counsel to GOP presidential candidate John McCain in 2008. 'This is pretty much the holy grail that people have been looking for.'"

Suggestions that we freeze the federal workforce are dangerous, writes Max Stier:http://bit.ly/93iFmh

Our courts are suffering from a confirmation crisis, writes Eric Holder: "Today there are 103 judicial vacancies -- nearly one in eight seats on the bench...The problem is about to get worse. Because of projected retirements and other demographic changes, the number of annual new vacancies in the next decade will be 33 percent greater than in the past three decades. If the historic pace of Senate confirmations continues, one third of the federal judiciary will be vacant by 2020. If we stay on the pace that the Senate has set in the past two years -- the slowest pace of confirmations in history -- fully half the federal judiciary will be vacant by 2020.

You know what You guys should stop complaining because, one the health care we have now isnt as good as it was supposed to be. also the law has just been signed so give it some time. so if u want to say u have the right to choose tell that to ur congress men or state official. If you do not have insurance and need one You can find full medical coverage at the lowest price by calling 877-882-4740 or check http://bit.ly/9fDY7U If you have health insurance and do not care about cost just be happy it and trust me you are not going to loose anything!

Ineptitude and a wanton disregard for the will of the American people have allowed politicians from both sides of the aisle to decimate America's economy. The post "Squandering America" at http://www.christianretirement.com offers an interesting challenge.

Sebelius is absolutely a thug. Now some of those that she is talking about in the insurance industry are thugs too but she can't go around acting like she's all innocent when she slams everything insurers do and preys upon individuals disdain for insurers for the benefit of this administration. You can't complain that insurers aren't covering everyone for dependent to age 26 when the law was written that way. Don't complain to the Aetna's of the world, complain to the Max Baucus', the Andrew Weiner's (ie the ones that wrote the law or claimed to write the law).

You can't complain that insurers are dropping children only policies and accuse them of unfair business practices when your business model for them puts them and millions in ancillary businesses OUT OF BUSINESS.

As a South Carolinian, I have to admit Demint is not an embarrassment to most citizens of the state. They are determined to resurrect the old south, take away rights, and turn the state into a cesspool of ignorance. Sorry about that, but it is the truth. SC is pretty pitful these days.

The republicans absolutely do not want any progress, advancement in the economy or any other issue. Their narrow minded goals, lack of concern for us and our country, love for Wall st over our survival have put them on the path to becoming our country's most dangerous domestic terrorists.

Ezra, if more people could see the chart in the link you've posted about income inequality - http://bit.ly/bqRrrN - perhaps they'd understand why Pres. Obama is pushing tax cuts ONLY for the middle class.

But, Fox & Frightwing radio brainwashing is so effective that during the health care debate, folks with NO job and NO health care were busy railing against affordable or free health care for themselves! - led and duped by wealthy GOP corporate lobbyists and Billionaires WITH health care coverage.

Stupid is the only way to describe a middle class family voting Republican.

De Mint is a racist and all so UN American as is the whole GOP if them southerners want him in office doing nothing how stupid can they be would you pay someone to work and pay them for doing nothing I guess that is why they lost the war, dumb A## rednecks

visionbrkr wrote>>>You can't complain that insurers are dropping children only policies and accuse them of unfair business practices when your business model for them puts them and millions in ancillary businesses OUT OF BUSINESS.

The health care act gave the Insurance industry 30M more customers! They're not going out of business!
Mandated insurance has been a Republican idea for decades - and that idea was one of several hundred Republican amendments included in the health care Act.
The Insurance companies currently refusing to conform to the intent of the law and instead raise rates to continue providing their CEOs with $10M and higher salaries, will be rejected by the public once the State exchanges become effective and more choices are available.

The only "death panels" were located in Insurance companies that gladly came between doctors and patients - until Pres. Obama and the Democrats passed health insurance reform.

I can't understand how causing a mini-government shutdown right before the mid-terms wouldn't blow up in DeMint's face. Are GOPers really this stupid?

Well over a million people will lose their welfare-for-work jobs and have all the time in the world to vote against those that cut them off at the knees. After seeing the GOP step up their obstructionist agenda these past two years I think I can honestly say that I'll never consider voting GOP again. It's either Democrat or possibly Independent from now on. GOPers are monsters.

Don't waste time debunking visionbrkr's right wing diatribe; he's not open to debate or critical thinking he's just a GOPer shill. Plus we don't have construction paper and crayons on the Internet to try and explain it to him.

Ezra, thanks for the link!
Wow! look at this chart of income INequality - which will widen if the Republicans regain control....

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/09/why-income-matters

>>>>The real long-term problem is that the fruits of economic growth are being increasingly funneled to a small group of the super rich in the first place. This just isn't sustainable without becoming a banana republic. Eventually, if we want a prosperous society, the private economy needs to distribute economic growth reasonably equitably in the first place.

Maybe the poor and middle class in the South will wake up and come to their senses and realise that the Republicans are anything but their friends and will vote DeMints and the rest that are minted in his image out of the Government.

"Suggestions that we freeze the federal workforce are dangerous, writes Max Stier: http://bit.ly/93iFmh"

Dangerous! After all, the country will certainly go into a tailspin if we don't hire a few extra bureaucrats.

"Does the public want the Interior Department, for example, to be automatically barred from hiring additional inspectors to guard against more devastating oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico or applying leverage where other potential disasters may be brewing? When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in April, there were just 60 inspectors to cover nearly 4,000 facilities in the region?"

Do we really need more inspectors at this point? After all, who really wants to be the next BP?

It's always the same - a massive government failure is always grounds for more money and more bodies. Just increase our budget 10% and we won't let this failure occur again.

"Do we want to stop the Food and Drug Administration from hiring scientists and experts it may need to prevent food-borne illnesses like the recent outbreak of salmonella from eggs?"

The FDA has been letting food-borne illnesses slip through the cracks time and time again. Maybe the FDA should be out of the business, and individuals and firms with health/reputations at stake should figure out an inspection regime which works best for them, rather than having this false sense of security?

"Despite all the talk about big government and the calls for downsizing and saving money, the civilian federal workforce, now at about 2.1 million, is smaller than it was in 1967. And there are over 100 million more Americans today than there were then."

The number of federal workers outside the defense department is at an all time record high and up 20.4% since 2000. Moreover, the federal government is costing quite a bit more money today than it did in 1967.

"The federal workforce has grown in the past decade, but two-thirds of the increase is directly related to the terrorist threat sparked by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. After Sept. 11, the public demanded a federal response, and Congress and the White House enacted new policies; put in place new homeland security, defense and intelligence initiatives; and hired people to run and manage these efforts."

And now, $1 trillion of government spending later, along with thousands upon thousands of more dead, the guy responsible for 9-11 continues to elude our grasp. But hey, we've won a lot of hearts and minds in the Middle East, right?

i'm glad you have an open mind :-). I've been around here for over a year and I don't think I've ever been accused of having a "right wing diatribe".

angie,

please share with me the salaries of CEO's of the insurance industry that are out of line with CEO's of other industries. Sure they make more than you and me but so does the CEO of GM that was appointed by the administration basically. Isn't he making $9 million a year?

Also share with me the fantastic alternatives the state exchanges are going to have. I can't wait for your expansive knowledge on the subject.

demint apparently thinks he is dictator of the United States from his senate seat. He did maage to cheat in the primaries to get a ringer for an opponenet and got away with it, so he must be feeling mighty full of himself.

"The health care act gave the Insurance industry 30M more customers! They're not going out of business!"

You can easily go out of business with more customers if you lose money on each customer.

"Mandated insurance has been a Republican idea for decades - and that idea was one of several hundred Republican amendments included in the health care Act."

And it was and remains a bad idea, regardlesss of who originally pushed it.

"The Insurance companies currently refusing to conform to the intent of the law and instead raise rates to continue providing their CEOs with $10M and higher salaries, will be rejected by the public once the State exchanges become effective and more choices are available."

You could send CEO salaries to $0, and it wouldn't make on whit of difference to premiums.

"Don't waste time debunking visionbrkr's right wing diatribe; he's not open to debate or critical thinking he's just a GOPer shill. Plus we don't have construction paper and crayons on the Internet to try and explain it to him."

Instead of just attacking visionbrkr personally, why not actually address his points? It would take about the same amount of time, and perhaps a few people might even be persuaded that your position is correct.

Tyrrany of the minority. In this case a minority of one. While South Carolina has given us some real fools in the political arena, DeMint takes the cake. Why does a lone senator of either party have the power to stop all legislation? Why should South Carolina rule the country? Despot DeMint.

"But, Fox & Frightwing radio brainwashing is so effective that during the health care debate, folks with NO job and NO health care were busy railing against affordable or free health care for themselves!"

Glad to hear there are still a few people who abhor theft, even when they are slated to receive the stolen goods and services.

"Stupid is the only way to describe a middle class family voting Republican."

Yeah, anyone who disagrees with your political positions must be stupid.

The most urgent need is for Dems to pass a budget - yet Dems are the one blocking this crucial piece of work getting done. Dems are blocking it because they dont want to have to choose between moderates fears over a 1.5 trillion deficit and their progressive base which always demands the government spend more. T

Why the snark about Obama's call for a longer school year ('he's lucky kid's don't vote.'). Do you think we DON'T need a longer school year - is education like health care, we are somehow exempt from the practices which have been shown to be successful in other countries that are cleaning our clocks? Longer school days and years are one of the main features of the charter school movement which is the darling of the chattering class when it comes to education reform, but somehow it is a joke when it is suggested for the public schools. Time on task is one of the single best predictors of success in any endeavor. Education is not a hail mary pass, it's three yards and a cloud of dust, and to the extent we are not mature enough to accept that, we will continue to fail our kids. As long as we accept and promote the notion that kids hate school, surprise, KIDS WILL HATE SCHOOL.

Let DeMint shut down the government. The Senate can stay in session through the elections. No where is more than a 5 or 6 hour plane ride. Just meet every Tuesday and Wed. and expose DeMint for the demagogue he is. Stand up for yourselves, Democrats.

Demint is acting like a typical parent to the Dem children: "Dad, can I max out your credit card?." NO. "Dad, can we give little Jimmy cyanide and see what happens?" No, go study what the effects would be 1st.

Awww, that is such a cute thing, to do the proposal as a recommended song on your website! I ACCEPT! This staging of the proposal will help your career and mine. You've always had a good eye for chances to get ahead. I admire that. Love to love ya, baby! But hey, we will have to have rev. Jeremiah Wright marry us, because my rabbi, and others, won't touch it, what with you being the hamas spokesman and all.

I love you madly Kathleen but for crying out loud maybe take the opportunity to mention the part D refunds that have been mailed out to hundreds of thousands of seniors. Seniors vote.

Also, it is a bit sketchy of her to phrase it, "The cost of health insurance has more than doubled, while millions of hard-working Americans lost their coverage or drained their savings to keep up with premiums," - that statement is more about healthcare cost than insurance cost and she knows better.

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